Grain hulling and scouring machine.



PATENTED DBO. 22, 190s.

W. E. LANMON. GRAIN HULLING AND SGOUNING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 20, 1902.

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No. 747,556. PATBNTED 1350.22, 190s.

W.- E. LARMGN. GRAINHULLING AND SGOURING MACHINE.

l APPLICATION FILED AUG. 20, 1902.

N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

` NITED STATES Patented December 22, 1903.

WILLIAM E. LARMON, OF ALVATON, KENTUCKY.

GRAIN HULLING AND SCOURING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters I-atent No. 747,556, dated December 22, 1903- Application filed August 20, 1902. Serial No. 120,414. (No model.)

ton, in the county of Warren and State ofA Kentucky, have invented a new and useful Grain Hulling and ScouringMachine,of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to machines for hulling and scouring or polishing grain, especially rice; and it has for its object to provide a device of this class which shall possess superior advantages in point of simplicity, durability, and general practical utility.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a combined hulling and scouring cylinder rotatable at a comparatively slow rate of speed and which coacts simultaneously with means disposed eXteriorly and interiorly of said cylinder to accomplish the twofold purpose of the invention.

With this general end in view the invention consists in the improved construction,

arrangement, aud combination of parts,which will be hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is asectional elevation of a machine constructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse sectional View, on a slightly larger scale, taken on the line 2 2 in Fig. 1. 1

Corresponding parts in the several gures are indicated by similar numerals of reference.

1 designates the hulling'and scouring drum.

It is my intention to construct this drum in a; single piece of the material known as emery,

and it may be so constructed that its in nerand outer surfaces shall be either of the same or of different degrees of fineness; but I desire it to be understood that I do not limit my- 4self as regards the construction of the drum, which it may be found advantageous to construct of a plurality of pieces suitably connected, sol as to make a solid. and compact whole, neither do I limit myself beyond the fact that the said drum or cylinder shall be practically a single open-ended cylindrical drum having inner and outerabrasive faces of the same or different degrees of tineness. As before stated, however, my preference is in fa- Vor of a solid emery drum or hollow cylinder.

This drum or cylinder (designated 1) is pro-v vided at its ends with rings or heads 2, preferably stepped into annular recesses 3 and the machine. In the drawings I have shownl 6o said bearings at the upper ends of uprights or brackets 8; but the frame construction may be altered to any extent without departing from the spirit of my invention. It may also be stated that while I have in the accompanying drawings shown the sleeves 6 as beingindependent of the hubs and connected therewith by means of set-sc rews 9 the said hubs and sleeves may, if desired, be made integrally with each other.

The cylinder 1 which is thus supported revolubly in the frame, is inclosed by a suitable casing 10, which may be considered to be a part of the frame of the machine. This casing 10 consists, mainly, of a cylinder or cylindrical drum of larger diameter than the cylinder 1, around which it is concentricall)- disposed. The drum lO is provided on its inner surface with brushes 11, entirely encompassing the cylinder 1. tion of this brush-cylinder Ido not limit myself in any respect. A shaft 12, extending longitudinally through the cylinder 1 and having bearings in the sleeves 6, is provided Regarding the construc- 8o with hubs 13, having radial arms 14, carrying is provided with additional bearings at the 9o upper ends of supports or uprights 16. Said shaft 12 also extends through a fan-case 17, and it carries a fan 18 within said case.

19 is the feed-hopper, which has an elbow 20, connected with a tube 21, which in turn 9;

is connected with an opening 22 in the casing 10, through which the material to be operated upon may be supplied to the space between the outer face of the cylinder 1 and the surrounding brush-cylinder. Thetube2l'is provided with a wire screen 23, disposed in the space between the elbow 20 and the opening 22 in the casing. The tube 21 is extended upwardly from the point at which it is con- IOO nected with the feed-hopper, and it is curved to form aduct 24, which is connected, through an opening 25, with the interior of the fancase, which latter is provided with a discharge-spout 26.

The end of the cylindrical casing opposite to that havingthe feed-opening 22 is provided in its under side with a discharge-opening 27, connected by a spout 28 with the casing 29 of an endless conveyer composed of a worm or spiral 30 upon a shaft 31, which extends longitudinally through the casing 29 and is journaled at the ends thereof. The spout 28 is connected by a duct 32 (which may be a continuation of the duct 24) with the interior of the fan-case through the opening 25, and one side of said spout-conveyer is provided with a screen 33 for the admission of air.

The conveyer-shaft 31 is provided with pulleys 34 35, the former of which is connected by a belt 36 with a pulley 37 upon the main shaft 12, from which motion is thus transmitted to the conveyer-shaft. The pulley 35 upon the latter is connected by a belt 38 with a pulley 39 upon one of the sleeves 6, thus communicating a rotary motion to the drum or cylinder l, the arrangement being such that the speed of rotation shall be considerably less, but the direction of rotation the same as that of the main shaft.

The conveyer-casing 29, which is connected by the spout 28 with the discharge-opening 27 of the space between the drum l and the exterior brush-cylinder, discharges at its opposite end through a spout 40 into the lower end of the casing 41 of an elevator or endless conveyer 42, the upper end of which has a discharge-spout 43 communicating with the interior space of the drum 1 through an opening 43 in one of the heads or ends of the casing. The said heads or ends, which are designated, respectively, 44 and 45, are composed of foraminous plates of sheet metal,which are secured in any suitable manner to the ends of the casing 10 and the openings in which are merely sufficient to admit ventilation to the interior space of the drum. The discharge from said interior space is through a spout 46, connected with the lower part of the head 45 and discharging into a duct 47, at the lower end of which the material is finally discharged, while the upper end of said duct is suitably curved and connected with an opening 48 in the outer side of the fan-case.

The operation of this invention will be readily understood from the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings hereto annexed. Thegrainthatistobeoperatedupon is fed into the hopper 19 and passes through the elbow 2O and opening 22 to the space between the outer side of the scouring-cylinder and the interior brush-face of the casing. While it drops the grain is subjected to an upward draft-current through the duct 21, which takes air through the screen 23 below the hopper, thus separating from the grain all dust and other impurities, chaff, and the like, which is carried through the duct 24 to the fan-case and thence expelled through the discharge-tube26. The grain being now subjected to the scouring action of the exterior surface of the drum 1 is on its passage toward the opposite end of the cylinder deprived of the hulls, the scoured kernels and the hulls escaping through the opening 24 and tube 28. While dropping through the tube the suction created by the fan through the screen 33 and the duct 32 separates the hulls from the kernels, the latter dropping into the conveyer-casing 29, while the former are carried through the duct 32 and opening 25 to the fan-case, whence they are expelled through the discharge-tube 26. The spiral conveyer 30 carries the grain to the spout 40,througl1 which it is dropped into the casing of the elevator 42, which conveys it through the spout 43 and opening 43 into the interior space of the cylinder 1,where it is subjected to the polishing action of the brushes 15, which are rotated rapidly, but in the same direction as the polishing-cylinder, at the opposite end of which the scoured and polished grain is finally discharged through the spout 46 and duct 47, being, however, at the moment of its discharge subjected toanal upward suction, which separates from the perfect kernels all dust and like impurities and carries the same through the said duct 47 and opening 48 into the fan-case, through the spout 26 of which it is finally expelled.

As will be readily seen from the foregoing, this single machine, the general construction of which is in all respects simple and inexpensive, performs the two important operations of hulling and scouring or polishing the grain in a very simple, perfect, and economical manner. It will be at once perceived that the main feature of the invention resides in the cylinder l, the inner and outer faces of which are both simultaneously utilized, though for different purposes, one surface serving for the purpose of hulling and the other for the purpose of scouring or polishing the grain. The general construction and arrangement of the parts constituting the invention is extremely simple and its operation has been found to be in every respect perfect.

I desire it to be understood that while I have in the foregoing described the preferred form of the invention I do not limit myself as regards the structural details, which may be altered and modiled in many ways without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention or detracting from the utility thereof.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- 1. In a machine of the class described, a scouring-cylinder consisting of a cylindrical tubular drum of attritive material such as emery, having an exterior and an interior scouring-surface, said drum being provided at its ends with interior annular recesses, in

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combination with rings or heads stepped in said recesses and having radial arms and hubs for revolubly supporting said drum.

2. In a machine of the class described, a frame, a stationary outer cylinder supported upon the frame and having an interior solid brush-surface, a scouring-cylinder of attritive material supported revolubly, axially Within the stationary outer cylinder or easing, perforated heads for the latter, and an axially-revoluble shaft carrying longitudinallydisposed brushes coperating With the inner face of the scouring-cylinder;

3. In a machine of the class described, a casing composed of a solid `cylinder having an interior brush-face and provided with foraminous ends, supporting means for said casing,

W. J. POTTER, B. P. EUBANK. 

